


wash day with armin

by vesuvivian



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Healthy Relationships, Mental Health Issues, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29304570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vesuvivian/pseuds/vesuvivian
Summary: You and Armin have been dating for nine months, but for the past month you'd been ghosting him due to mental health reasons. He comes over to your home to help you care for your hair.**A/N: Reader is a black person with afro textured hair, as I wrote this inspired by one of my best friends.****Please read notes at the beginning of the story!***I tried to keep this as gender neutral as possible.**
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	wash day with armin

**Author's Note:**

> **PLEASE READ**  
> Hello! I wrote this piece thinking about what one of my best friend's told me, and it's that there is barely any Y/N stories directed towards black reader's, so I decided to try my hand at writing something that black readers could enjoy!  
> Although, I am a POC, I am not a black person myself, so I had to do research into washing, treating, and styling black hair. I watched multiple tutorials, as I wanted to be as accurate and close to what black people do to care for their natural hair, though, not every single step or detail is written, I hope this is something that you guys can still enjoy and feel identified with. <3
> 
> If there are any inaccuracies, notes, details, critiques, etc. that you would like to point out about how I could make black!reader oriented pieces better in the future, please feel free to comment them as I do not know everything and am open to learning and receiving critique. 
> 
> Finally, in this piece there are talks of mental health issues, particularly about depression (which is something that I struggle with personally), and the loss of care for basic hygiene; this can be a sensitive topic for some, so please read this with care.

You lied on your bed, staring off into nothing. You knew you needed to get up and _at least_ wash your hair, but the past five weeks had you hanging by a thread; you couldn’t help but feel that nothing you did mattered. You’d done simple co-washes every few weeks, with some re-twisting thrown in the mix; you were certain your hair could hold off a little longer without a proper wash… Right? You wrapped your blanket around you tighter, closing your eyes.

Your cellphone vibrated two times and the screen lit up. Your eyes opened slowly to look at the notification. They were texts from Armin.

**Armin:** _hey, I’m coming over._

**Armin:** _I already spoke with your mom and dad about this visit, so there’s no way you’re not seeing me._

You sighed, feeling your eyes water. Armin, your sweet boyfriend-the boyfriend you ignored for five weeks straight, with no warning. For five weeks, he’d been calling you, texting you, he had even come over to your home a few times and spoken to you from outside of your room. You gave no sign of wanting to communicate, of wanting to get out of your nest. You had explained to him at the beginning of your relationship that you were prone to severe depressive episodes; that these episodes didn’t have preset dates of start or finishing, and that you were never sure how they would go or how the outcome would be. You were still in the stages of finding the right medication for your condition, and that meant that some of your symptoms could worsen; you’d guessed this new prescription was the cause of this sudden spiral.

You weren’t sure you could face him, not after ghosting him for a month. How could you recover from this? You began to cry. You felt ashamed of yourself, of the state of dishevelment you were in; your mind jumped to extremes, telling you he wouldn’t love you after he realized the broken mess you were, and that he’d definitely leave you alone after this.

A knock sounded against your door.

You wiped your tears away, hiccupping. His soft voice came to your ears.

“Hey, babe, I’m coming in.” The door creaked open slowly. You sniffled. He stood at the entrance of your room, holding a bouquet of flowers, your favorite snacks, and a plushie. He was giving you a sympathetic smile.

“Hi.” Is all he said once he saw you. You bit your lip, knowing you looked ridiculous with puffy eyes, clear evidence of you _just_ having cried.

“Hey.” You replied, your voice sounding nasally from how stuffy your nose became. You let out a laugh and he laughed with you. Your laugh slowly turning into crying. He walked towards you, kneeling in front you and placing all the little gifts on the floor. His arms wrapped around your head, bringing your face to rest against his shoulder, and you felt yourself shaking in sobs. He cooed, whispering sweet nothings in your ears.

“I’m so sorry, I’m sorry.” You kept repeating, apologizing for ignoring him, for not warning him. He shook his head, letting you go, and placing his hands on your face, making you look directly at him.

“No. No, this isn’t your fault. I’m not mad you, because I know this is totally out of your control.” You took deep breaths as he wiped away your tears. He kissed your puffy cheeks, while taking out a handkerchief from his pocket, and placing it against your nose.

“Blow.” He told you. You laughed loud and so did he. You did as he told you, leaving you smiling. He wiped your nose as if you were a child, making sure there was no residue snot, or boogers. These small gestures were what made you fall in love with him, he was unbelievably caring towards those he loved and held dear. Afterwards, you spoke for over an hour, while he held you and kissed you, catching up on each other’s lives for the past month. Eventually, the conversation led to you telling him about your need for a hair wash, but not being motivated enough to do it.

“I’ll help you.” He responded without hesitation. You looked at him with a small smile splattered on your face.

“Babe, I really appreciate you wanting to help me, but my hair care isn’t like yours. It takes time, different products; it’s a whole routine, you know?”

“Okay, and I’m a quick learner. _You know me_ , I can definitely do this if you teach me.” He said, while leaning into you, giving you a quick kiss. You thought about it for a few seconds.

“Give me a minute, okay? Wait here.” You got up from your bed, leaving your room. You searched for your parents around the house, finding them in the living room, watching a movie together. They both perked up when they saw you.

“Baby! Are you okay?” Your mom asked with a worried expression. You nodded.

“It’s just, um… I want to wash my hair, and Armin offered to help me. I was wondering if one of you could help him through the process.” You looked between them and your father got up quickly.

“Well, I _am_ the hair care expert in this family,” He said, with his hands on his hips. Your mom rolled her eyes at him in a joking manner. “ _Of course_ , I’ll help teach him how to care for you. Where is he?” Your dad asked. Your mom replied she would set up the bathroom with the products and a chair for you. You brought your father to your room, when you opened the door, you noticed he was concentrated on his phone; a natural hair care routine sounding through the phone’s speakers. He looked up at you both smiling and locking his phone quickly; you laughed a bit after noticing this and your dad walked straight to him and shook his hand.

“A man with initiative! I like you more every time I see you, Armin!” He said with the biggest smile. Armin laughed. The two of them spoke for a bit while you listened, but the laughter was exchanged between the three of you.

In the bathroom, your mother had set up a plastic chair inside the shower, bringing a television table tray and placing all the necessary products on top of it. Armin took a picture of the setup, saying that with that picture, he’d know what to get if you ever ran out of a certain product. You sat on the chair inside the shower, and your father played and touched with your hair before speaking.

“Okay, Armin, the first thing we’re gonna do is untwist the hair.” Your father grabbed a twist, demonstrating how to do it and Armin followed. Your mom sat by the bathroom sink, interjecting.

“That hairstyle is called a twist out, by the way. It helps lock in moisture and keeps our hair protected.” Armin looked at your mom and gave her a smile, thanking her for letting him know. He seemed to be particularly gentle with your hair compared to your father, treating each twist tenderly, seemingly scared of hurting you. Your dad explained protective styling to Armin while they both worked on your hair on opposite sides. Every now and then, Armin would ask some questions, and both your parents would answer.

“Okay, now that this is done, you’re going to get warm water,” Your dad grabbed the showerhead, bringing it towards you. “But make sure that it isn’t on the completely hot setting, or you’d be upsetting the scalp and causing unnecessary damage.” He turned the shower on, wetting the side of hair he was working on. “And you’re going to soak it, make sure it’s saturated.” Once your father finished, he handed the shower head to Armin. He passed the water softly. Despite your parents being present, there was something so intimate and loving about him being willing to learn this for you. It overwhelmed you to know that this man was seeing a future with you; why else would he bother to learn something like this?

“Some people don’t work in sections, but I find that it’s easier to do, especially if you’re a beginner. You’re going to grab a wide tooth comb and do four sections. One in the middle, two on the sides.” Your dad parted your hair in the middle and then his side, giving the comb over to Armin. Armin parted his side while your dad watched and gave him tips on how to get a cleaner line. Your mom spoke up, explaining something about your hair texture and the care it required, brush types to use, etc. and Armin listened to it all, making mental notes of everything your parents shared.

Your father grabbed a hair detangling spray and worked it into your hair. When he was finished, he started his demonstration on how to detangle. You watched Armin in the bathroom mirror, he had a serious expression, clearly focused on what he was doing and listening to your father with vigorous interest. You felt yourself smile involuntarily. You were sure this was the man for you. Your mothers phone rang, and she picked it up, leaving the bathroom to talk privately. Armin stroked your hair gently, brushing it through with your mom’s detangling hairbrush, while your dad worked on the other side with the wide tooth comb. Suddenly, your mom burst through the door.

“Honey, we need to go, my sister is stuck on the highway, her car broke down. It’s getting a bit late and I’m worried about her being all alone out there.” Your dad stopped working on your hair, immediately set into motion. He stopped at the door before leaving.

“Sweetie, you can walk him through the rest of it, right?” You nodded and he gave you a warm smile. “We’ll be back quickly, don’t worry. Take care.” He walked quickly, leaving you and Armin alone.

Armin finished detangling your hair, both of you had applied shampoo section by section, conditioned, and now you were working on sealing with an oil as well as a leave in conditioner, about to start doing new twists. His blue eyes were sparkling, and he had a smile on his lips; he felt happy to finally be able to connect with you again, to be in your presence . He worked oil into your hair and scalp, later dividing a small section of hair, splitting it in two; you mirrored his actions on your other side.

“Okay, so to make twists, you grab some conditioner on your fingers,” You dipped your hand inside your favorite product, distributing it thoroughly through your hair. “You detangle again.” He nodded, letting out a soft laugh.

“We’ve done a lot of detangling through all of this.” He comments. You laugh while nodding.

“I told you this was a big routine, though.” You answer. He kisses your head, staying there for a moment; loud sniffing coming from his side. You look at the mirror, realizing that he’s smelling your hair. He rolls his eyes back in an exaggerated manner after seeing that you noticed what he was doing, making you laugh loudly. 

“What are you doing?!” You elbow him lightly on his stomach, still laughing.

“Your hair smells like how I imagine gardens in childhood fairytales do, please, you smell SO good.” He laughs at what he says, but his words are genuine; everything about him is genuine, and it fulfills you. “This is the most fun I’ve had in a while, though, I’d love to help you with your hair every other time if you would have me.” You looked up at him shaking your head. You extended your hands to his face, grabbing him by his cheeks and pulling his face towards yours.

“I love you _so_ much.” You said, looking directly into his eyes. He stared back, his cheeks slowly turning red. In all the nine months of dating you’d been doing; you had never said it back to him. You were guarded about who you chose to give those words to, they weren’t lightly thrown around; you knew you’d felt affection towards him, that affection growing slowly, but it didn’t mean you _loved_ him…Until now. His mouth was slightly agape. You leaned in, planting a kiss on his lips.

For Armin, this moment was like setting off fireworks in his head; the feeling to love and be loved back? It sent shivers down his back, left him speechless; his thoughts stopped completely. For a few seconds, he didn’t kiss you back as he relished in the fact that _you loved him back._ Eventually, he recollected himself, and kissed you back with passion. He let go of your hair, his hands going to the back of your head, holding you in place. You moved in sync, the kiss turning a bit languid.

“Hey, kids, we’re back…” Your mom walked in, stopping mid-sentence. You both broke off the kiss quickly, but your foreheads stayed together; both of you were now laughing, completely embarrassed. She turned around as quick as she came in. “Maybe we’ll talk when you guys are finished.” Her voice sounding distant.

When the both of you finished doing your hair, it was late at night. Your parents decided to let Armin stay the night at your house, allowing him to sleep in the same bed as you. You were curled up next to him, head resting on his chest, twirling his t-shirt between your fingers. He had a particular smell, it reminded you of a forest, and freshly cut wood. It brought a sense of comfort to you, and for the first time in a long time, you felt safe, loved, and accompanied. You knew good days would come, and you felt a sense of reassurance that you would feel better eventually.


End file.
